Class I or Class II (laminar flow) biological safety cabinets are designed to minimize hazards inherent in work with biological agents. BSC's can be used for work with biological agents assigned to biosafety levels 1 through 4, depending on the facility design as described in the CDC/NIH publication Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories. A BSC is a ventilated device for personnel, product, and environmental protection having an open front with inward airflow for personnel protection, downward HEPA filtered laminar airflow for product protection, and HEPA filtered exhausted air for environmental protection.
Recommendations and requirements to certify BSC's come from a variety of sources. All manufacturers and NSF International recommend field certification of BSC's. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and NIH state that it is essential that Class I, II and III BSC's be tested and certified.
Decontamination is a key component of certification.